If Clifford Odets' play seems impossibly
shopworn today - boy from poverty row is
tempted to abandon Art and his violin for
the quick but brutalising rewards of the
boxing-ring - at least this adaptation
prunes away the worst, pseudo-poetical
excesses of the original dialogue. Gone,
too, is the character of the labour
organiser, mouthpiece for Odets' flabby plea
that the hero's choice is a matter for
concern in terms of the on-going struggle
between Capital and Labour. What's left is
melodrama, with the dilemma couched largely
in moral and personal terms, and it stands
up pretty well under Mamoulian's stylish
direction, with its chiaroscuro lighting
effects, savage final fight (shot with
subjective camera), and gallery of excellent
performances. Holden (in his film debut) is
good in the title role; but the real treats
are Menjou's mournfully cynical fight
manager, Stanwyck's melting moll, and
Calleia's wonderfully serio-comic,
trigger-itchy gangster.

William Holden in his first starring role as
a ghetto boy who turns in his violin for a
pair of boxing gloves. Columbia was attacked
for softening Clifford Odets's famous stage
play, though at worst it's an exchange of
naive Broadway cynicism for naive Hollywood
optimism--a fair trade, I'd say. The film is
actually one of Rouben Mamoulian's more
restrained and responsible jobs of
direction--he hasn't overloaded Odets's
rhetorical flourishes with his own customary
explosions of style.

Although Sony's effort is technically dual-layered - the film definitely
is only single-layered... as is the Universal PAL edition. In actuality,
the UK release utilizes more space when you take into consideration the
extensive supplements available on the Sony. I initially leaned towards
the frugal PAL edition in terms of image. It has far superior contrast
as the Sony looks a shade sepia. The Universal also includes more
information in the frame (marginal). Unfortunately, the PAL edition has
some falsely acquired brightness and shows more artifacts. Both are
fairly clean but different speckles here and there are visible in each.
Both are progressively transferred. In the end this is not an easy
choice in regards to the image - both having some prominent minuses but
this is one title you probably won't see hit high-definition in your
(my) lifetime. Both have optional English subtitles but they are flawed
in the Universal residing on a black label background (see sample
below). The Sony are awful bright yellow.

Another big difference are in the
supplements - where the Universal (shared in a collection with
Double Indemnity, The Lady Eve,
All I Desire,
The Bitter Tea of General Yenand
The Miracle Woman.
) offers nothing - the Sony is stacked. It offers a cartoon - The
Kangaroo Kid, a three-stooge-esq comedy short called Pleased to
Mitt You (with Shemp!). There is also something called a 'Screen
Snapshot' featurette with some footage of stars of the era at
leisure including Stanwyck trying her hand at golf (just love this gal).
Then we have a 1956 TV episode of Ford Television Theatre: Sudden
Silence with Jeff Morrow and Barbara Stanwyck - kinda cool addition!
Finally some previews and the original theatrical trailer. Way to go
Sony!

I LOVE my
UK Stanwyck Goddess collection but it is pricey. I also really
like this film a lot... and the Sony supplements. The final choice is
yours but don't pass up William Holden's debut!